In the world of heavy metal, a certain stigma follows a lot of bands' fifth records tend to make some of the biggest waves in their career (Iron Maiden - Powerslave, Metallica - Metallica, Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction). In some cases, these records can propel the band into super-stardom, i.e. Metallica, or just prove to be a defining factor for the bands works, i.e. Iron Maiden. With In Waves, Trivium have reached this milestone in their career, however, I'm not so sure if this albums is making the right sort of waves for them.

From the off, Trivium have had an up and down career over the past decade, from the metalcore milestones Ember To Inferno and Ascendancy, to the Metallica-lite Crusade, to the behemoth that was Shogun, they seem to be setting up a habit of following a great record with a merely OK one at best, and unfortunately In Waves seems to only advocate this tradition.

The first two tracks, Capsizing The Sea, the customary intro track, and In Waves, do set up an epic live atmosphere, specially with the huge sounding mid-section in In Waves, but break very little new ground for the band, and leave you hoping the record improves on that, specially with the lack of solos. Next comes Inception Of The End, and this really makes you take notice. From the opening riff straight to the pre-chorus, this is the Trivium that everyone wants, big, chunky riffs, with great hooks and vocals. Then comes the chorus. The chorus, and mid-section, just feel like the band didn't try hard enough to think of something better, and really lets down the surrounding material, specially with, again, the lack of a proper solo. Unfortunately, this sets the tone for the most of the rest of the album.

Dusk Dismantled does definitely raise hopes, with a melodic black metal feel to it, some of it not sounding too unlike that of the likes of Behemoth. Finally with a proper bit of shredding in the solo, and a serious dose of the heavy stuff for the post solo riff. This is PRECISELY what I wanted to hear from the band, and how quickly it is taken away.

Watch The World Burn and Black come next, and its a complete turn-around. The stench of radio rock off these is over-bearing, and harks back to the, shock horror, days of 'We Are The Fire', just makes you want to turn the record off and listen to Effigy Of The Forgotten to get your metal credentials back.

A Skyline's Severance saves the day for now, being the first song with just growled vocals, and its follow up being an atmospheric instrumental track, the tone has been set for, hopefully, a heavy second half. Then on comes Built To Fall, and you begin to wonder when Three Days Grace decided to write a song for them. Its not necessarily a bad song, but its not the sound anyone wants to hear from Trivium.

What comes next is even worse, the following pairing, Caustic Are The Ties That Bind and Forsake Not The Dream, doesn't sound like Trivium, no, it sounds like *gulp*, Bullet For My Valentine. It truly feels like a step down for Trivium, and a bitter disappointment for us fans.

With only five tracks left, there is little room to salvage the record, and they don't. From Drowning In Slow Motion to Chaos Reigns, there are some cool moments, but the record as a whole has been lost. The only saving grace is From All These Yesterdays, which feels new and fresh for the band, and is my favorite track, only problem is it feels like it should be longer. Then comes the outro Leaving This World Behind, and its over.

This record is disappointing at best. There are some cool moments, but they are too few and far between to save it from being a small disaster. It seems the band had some great ideas, but just didn't follow them through fully and went on auto-pilot, which is a crying shame, as they had some amazing potential.